Update

Wow its been a long time since I have made a blog post. There has been heaps of little things that I have done but I guess nothing worthing making a post about. Well now its time to just stick them all together and make an update.

So all the axolotls are dead... kinda a blessing in disguise as I didn't really want to have to look after all of them.

Went for a little hike the other day and collected a cache up on Maungatautari. Had to basically climb up to the top and then out to another little point.  Did that climb with Jane, Kiwi69.

Was sitting at home last night wondering what to do this Sunday. I haven't been tramping in a long time and thought that it was about time to get out and enjoy this wonderful weather that has been gracing the Waikato . There aren't many around that I haven't collect except for several on Maungatautari. That was it planned. Going to head up and collect The Hook Nose as a gentle warm up for the tramping 2012-2013.

Had a look through the logs and noticed that Kiwi69 hadn't collect this one either. After a couple of emails backwards and forwards a plan was laid to head up in the morning.

Parked the car at about 8:30 and we begun our gentle hike. Following the fence line on the vehicle track was a nice introduction for the days hike but after a couple of steep climbs we were reminded that Maungatautari was still to be respected. We eventually arrived at the Over the Mountain (OTM) track where we left behind the wide service track and started on a more traditional track. 

The track was pretty easy to follow and as Kiwi69 mentioned there was a couple of huge trees that have come down but orange ribbons have be placed to mark a new track around them. After a steady hike to the Rahina turn off we were in high sprits and looking forward to claiming another find. It was about an hour to the cache from the turn off. A really beautiful spot. The bush just seamed to peel back and we were left standing on a rocky outcrop with almost 360 degree views. Took a moment to enjoy the view before starting the search. 

Cache was found quickly but had about 2inch of water. Luckily there was a couple of waterproof pages that we were able to sign.

Heading back to the car didn't seem to take that long as the views and conversations made the time fly. A great day out and awesome way to spend a wonderful sunday. Thanks for the great views.

Got back to the car at about 1:00 so took a little over 4hr with lots of stops, chatting and viewing.

Also tried to get a FTF last night but ended up coming second.

A classic FTF race and one that is enjoyable when you actually dont know who is going to get there first. Saw this one as I climbed into bed and after a small discussion with the other half we both headed of to crack the cache.

Was talking on the way and decided that the only threat was going to be HCKB as he is crazy enough to get a cache any time of the night (previously meet him at 1:00am trying for a FTF).

Driving past GZ I saw a suspicious looking car parked in a very odd spot - the number plate just screamed geocacher. Decided that there was not going to be anyone around at this hour of the night I too pulled up closer to GZ than expected. Approaching GZ I hear a call that I had just missed the FTF by minutes.

Ended up having a good old chat about the up and coming event and future caches to be placed. Really good fun when a FTF race brings people together at the back of gardens at the middle of the night lol.

The cache container is very cool and a great puzzle to go along with it. Well done on your first cache placement.

We have also had a chicken that has been making friends with mittens